There are now a number of pages defending
the noble pit bull (also called Staffordshire Terrier) against the shrill
hysterics of people like Newkirk, who has called for the extermination
of Pit Bulls. This pages aspires to an animal-rights focus on that issue.
Besides, lots of vegetarians around here seem to own pitbulls and we hill
folk don’t cotton to no bigot messin’
with our dogs.

To Hell and Back This
month’s featured pit bull rescue group pledges to go to hell
and back to rescue
pit bulls who currently reside there, before groups like Newkirk’s PeTA
work their will and see that these poor animals’ miserable lives of pain are
unrelieved by so much as a moment’s
respite before they are put to death. To
Hell and Back encourages a vegan lifestyle
and, in fact, feeds their rescued pit bulls a vegan diet. Even though
dogs (unlike humans) actually are natural carnivores, they are getting all
the amino acids they need and are said to be thriving.

PeTA’s Wicked Witch
Calls for Death of Vicktory Dogs Ingrid Newkirk,
the Wicked Witch
of the East, has sent her flying monkeys aloft to try to bring about
the death of the dogs rescued from Michael Vick’s
dog-fighting compound. While groups like the Best Friends Animal Society
worked quietly to save them, the strident voice of PeTA was demanding
their destruction. According to the Best
Friends website, “Best Friends worked behind the
scenes to ensure the dogs’ future,
even as other groups pushed for them to be euthanized. A spokeswoman
from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals called them ‘ticking
time bombs,‘ and said that ‘rehabilitating fighting dogs
is not in the cards.’” Ms. Newkirk might also have said,
"I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too!”

Willie
Nelson Speaks Out Against Dog Fighting Willie
Nelson urges
us to work to strengthen dog fighting laws in Georgia, where
light penalties have created a pit fighting sanctuary.

The Pit
Bull Temperament “The
American Temperament Test Society tests dogs for such traits as stability,
shyness, aggressiveness, friendliness and protectiveness. Last year, the more
than 1,000 pit bulls it tested passed at a higher-than-average rate. They tested
better than beagles, cocker spaniels, collies and Pomeranians.“ Kelley Benham”
in The St. Petersburg Times

Even
people and groups who support and defend ”Bully” breeds accept
the conventional wisdom that Pit Bulls, though usually friendly toward people,
are naturally aggressive toward dogs and warn those considering adopting pit
bulls accordingly. In my experience with dogs, which is fairly extensive, Prospective
owners should, in my view, instead be warned of the Pit Bull’s strength,
which can be an issue if the dog has not yet been trained. Here is a letter
I wrote to the Pit Bull Rescue Center on that point:

I am impressed by the intelligence and design of your site and the information
there. However, as one who has been around dogs all my life, I question the
assertion often repeated even by pro-pit bull organizations such as yours:
that, due to their breeding, pit bulls are intrinsically more aggressive
toward other dogs than other breeds. I have not found that to be the case.
I worked with two of my own pit bulls in a group formed to train service
dogs. During the two years of that group’s existence, there were two
dog fights at our training sessions. The aggressor in one case was a German
Shepherd seizure dog, the other was a seasoned Golden Retriever wheelchair
dog. In both cases my Pit Bull dogs looked on indifferently.

As you must know, there is an enormous difference in personalities within
all dog breeds, Pit Bulls included. I do not believe that breeding can produce
such precise results; if it could we would no longer have to train service
dogs; we could simply breed service work into them.

All dogs will, by nature, fight. In the days when dogs were commonly allowed
to run loose dog fights were common. Pit Bulls, because of their strength,
simply tend to do more damage when they DO fight. If you know of data from
controlled, double-blind, peer-reviewed experiments that clearly demonstrate
that Pit Bulls are genetically more aggressive than other dogs, I’d
be very interested in reading it. If not, damning Pit Bulls with the faint
praise of “Pit Bulls are only vicious toward other dogs” is doing
them a disservice.

Nonetheless, I repeat that I think your website is excellent. Forgive
me for this single quibble. Yours truly,
John Mayer

The Bully
Buzz A
well-designed and entertaining newsletter,
The Bully Buzz, is offered free via email by The
Pit Bull Rescue Center. My favorite section is “Pit Bull Heroes”
which features Pit Bulls which have contributed in some tangible way to the betterment
of humanity. In some shelters these Pit Bull Heroes would have been euthanized
“on presentation,” with no chance to be adopted.

The Vicktory Dogs Defenders
of Pit Bulls want people to know that Pit Bulls are, by nature, loving, even-tempered
dogs, and that the ones who go bad are aberrations, their natural loyalty twisted
and perverted by sadistic, heartless and greedy men. But what about the dogs
that are so abused, those that have actually fought in the blood pit? Can their
better natures overcome this cruelty? Looks like it. Vicktory
Dogs

Though
Forced to Fight, Vick’s Pit Bulls OK for Placement Not
only are Pit Bull dogs not the mindless killers the uninformed, the prejudiced,
a sensationalistic press and Ingrid Newkirk make them out to be, even
those forced to fight can remain, at heart, loving animals. Almost
all of notorious dog fighter and former quarterback Michael Vicks’ abused
and brutalized dogs have been found to be eligible for placement; only
one was found to be so tormented and deranged that it must be destroyed.
As the owner of a rescued fighting dog this comes as no surprise to me. Further
details from the ASPCA, which participated in the evaluation.

One More Good Dog Lost to Newkirk-style
Stupidity A
shelter worker who knows what great family dogs pit bulls can be reports:
?There was a family at the shelter yesterday looking for a dog to add to
their family. Mama Cass, our big pit mix - she actually looks like a pit
perhaps only around the eyes and with respect to her body build - spied
the three kids coming, grabbed up a tennis ball, and stood at the side
of her pen waiting. The parents looked at her and asked what kind of
dog she is. Amber told them a pit mix and they immediately said they
didn't want her because she was a pit. These idiots ended up taking...a
very mouthy male Doberman mix. I can't even figure that.“ Had
Amber told them Mama Cass was a part Staffordshire, or simply a mixed
breed, both equally valid responses, this loving and intelligenet dog
would be part of this family. Amber might also have mentioned that
this breed is known as the “Nanny Dog” in England because
it so good with children. If you’d like to consider adopting
Mama Cass - she really doesn't look at all like a pit to me, and, in
fact, may have little or no pit blood - trasportation can be arranged
to the Knoxville area. Read more about Cass and see more photos
at Petfinder.com.

Two Moving Pit Bull Videos The
Humane Society has sponsored a contest for the most effective video against
dog-fighting. The quite effective winners are posted
here, with links to
other entries on YouTube.

Does Vick Deserve Compassion?Michael
Vick, a star quarterback with the Atlanta Falcons, has pleaded guilty to
charges associated with running a dog-fighting operation. The Southern
Christian Leadership Conference initially, and the NAACP more
recently have pleaded for mercy for Michael VIck. A bit
ironic, since Vick had earned - I use the word advisedly - public contempt
for his complete lack of mercy, not only forcing dogs into inflicting
grievous wounds on one another and dying miserable deaths, but also summarily
executing dogs, some with his own hand, that he felt didn’t measure
up to his standards of viciousness.

This is not simply an athlete who has erred by doing a little betting,
or has sought to gain an edge in his competitive world by the use of steroids;
this is a man, for lack of a better term, who has found pleasure in the
vile cruelty. Do we really want to give him another chance to enter the
public arena and serve as a role model once again?

Vick’s dogs gave their lives because they were placed in situations
wherein they probably believed their master was in danger. Pit bull and
other dogs are often willing to give their lives for the humans they love.
Their reward, if their best isn’t good enough, or even if they triumph
but are so wounded and injured that vet costs would be high? A bullet in
the brain from the one they were trying to protect. Or maybe, in their
weakened state, being strangled by their owner while their simple minds
try vainly to fathom how they have failed him.

Their is enough pain and cruelty in the world. We don’t need to
reward those who introduce more, simply to satisfy their twisted thirst
for “entertainment.” Isn’t public disgrace and the loss
of a paycheck for a couple of years punishment enough? No. Let his fortunes
dwindle, let him sink into the gutter where he belongs. Maybe some day
some young and heartless filmmaker will give him and some other homeless
person a few bucks to film them bum-fighting, another of our nation’s
disgraces, but one, happily, less common. Maybe then, at last, Vick will
understand. But let’s
hope that by then the public will no longer associate torture with entertainment.

With Friends Like
PeTA, Who Needs Enemies? Many concerned with animal
welfare have long debated whether PeTA does more good than harm. On the
one hand lngrid Newkirk's group has helped make the phrase "Animal
Rights" a household word. On the other hand, some of their ill-conceived
campaigns have attracted derision and helped to characterize those who
care about animals as crackpots. But one particularly unpleasant campaign
of Ms. Newkirk demands comment: her crusade to wipe out a breed of dog
she doesn't care for. Now, I'm all in favor of phasing out the very notion
of dog breeds. Though I have long been fascinated by the many shapes
the extremely plastic germ plasm of dogs can produce, I think the determination
of some people to own only a certain type of dog, one they regard, as
some do their cars, an extension of their personality, is one reason
we have such an excess population of dogs today. Adopters will pass by
wonderful animals that would have given them years of companionship,
simply because they're not the breed that meets their preconceptions.

But Newkirk isn't talking about gradually phasing out dog breeds:
she's talking about surrendering your beloved pet for execution.
She is one of the nation's hysterics who advocates breed-specific
bans, a position specifically opposed by The Humane Society and
the ASPCA. In spite of all the evidence, she refuses to acknowledge
that the Pit Bull, or Staffordshire Terrier, is far more sinned
against than sinner, and that any dog, subjected to the vicious abuse certain
types of owners commonly subject the Pit Bull to would also be driven to
viciousness, be that a German Shepherd or, as she suggests, a Chihuahua.
Of course, only the larger breeds would pose much of a threat. In her latest
diatribe of June 8 Newkirk says: "The pit bull's ancestor. the Staffordshire
terrier, is a human concoction, bred in my native England, I'm ashamed to
say, as a weapon. These dogs were designed specifically to fight other animals
and kill them, for sport." She doesn't mention that other dogs, for
example the bull mastiff, were bred specifically to attack humans, or that
the Boxer was also bred largely for fighting as was the "Spuds McKenzie'
dog the Bull Terrier. Happily, the intent of their original breeders is not
as integral to these animals as their physical appearance. Newkirk also fails
to mention that in her native England the Pit Bulldog is commonly referred
to as the Nanny dog because it is so good with children.

The Staffordshire not only is the "ancestor" of the pit bull, it
IS the pit bull, though pits are now being routinely bred larger than Staffies.
The divergence happened because the AKC scrutinized the dogs they register
too closely for the comfort of those pathetic pieces of filth who like to
let their dogs substitute for their own lack of manhood, so they started
their OWN dog clubs primarily to register Pit Bulls. The first pit bull dog
to be registered in this country, by the way, was the lovable Petey of Little
Rascals fame. Further in the article Newkirk reveals the real reason for
her implacable opposition to the survival of pit bulls: "I have scars
on my leg and arm from my own encounter with a pit." I suppose the animal
rights movement is fortunate that Ms. Newkirk was not bitten by a seal, or
she'd be campaigning for the support of Canadian baby seal clubbing, urging
that the little white buggers be wiped out before they're large enough to
attack her.

Curiously,
I know four vegetarians who own pit bulls. Perhaps this is because
we're in the South where pit bulls are more common than in some
areas, or perhaps it's because vegetarians are more prone to rescue
mistreated dogs. All of us find them loving and trustworthy pets.
I, myself, having been a paper boy and a mailman, have been bitten
many times. I've been attacked by Collies, Cocker Spaniels, Dachshunds
and Golden Retrievers. As it happens, though I've rescued and owned
several, I've never been bitten by a pit bull. Pit bulls, in fact,
are not even on the list of the ten breeds most likely to bite.This
subject could easily occupy a webpage to itself, and maybe that
is a worthwhile future project. In the meantime, if you are considering
donating money to an animal welfare group. I suggest you consider
my own favorite Sea Shepherd or
the Humane Society or the ASPCA or SNIPS or
your own struggling animal shelter. They actually do some good
for animals. Without any Captain Ahab-like vendettas against certain
ones.

Learn about a
more enlightened animal protection group, how they saved, rather
than executed, a severely mutilated and discarded pit bull, and
how that animal, Gypsy,
is becoming the very symbol of international opposition to the
cruelty of animal fighting.This group also needs your money worse
than PeTA. Maybe we need a new group just to defend the scapegoated
pit bull. How's about we call it PeTEY?

The Pit Bull Problem Here's
an excellent Flash movie called The
Pit Bull Problem. Highly recommended, though please note warnings
in the opening. For some reason this video keeps disappearing from the web.
This is a degraded, third or fourth generation copy - the stationary cursor
is annoying - but the only working copy I can find currently. Still worth watching;
the best use of rap music I’ve encountered.

Pit Bulls - Dog Problem or Human Problem Another good pit
bull video,
not quite as powerful as the one above, but better video quality.

Newkirk Toning Down her Rhetoric? At
a sheltering and rescue conference HSUS held a pit
bull forum. Newkirk appeared
on tape and, judging trom the report of the program on the HSUS’s Sheltering
site, was much more muted in her pit bull attacks than in the past (see link
to her statement, above, calling for the euthanizing and extermination of the
breed). Has she seen the light? We’ll reserve judgment.

Pit
Bull Links

Beyond
the Myth Cover Y’all productions is bringing out a documentary
to address the unfair stigma that is now attached to Pit Bulls. “[The film]
explores the contributing factors behind the public's generalized fear
of pit bulls and examines the conflict existing between advocates and opponents
of Breed Specific Legislation (BSL). It also investigates the myths associated
with the breed and asks the question, ‘What exactly is a pit bull.’ ” You
can help complete this project.

Bless the
Bullies Encouraging repsonsible ownership of all breeds,
while emphasizing the particular duty of pit bull owners to act as ambassadors
for this maligned breed. Also working to attempt to rescue as many
of those bully breed dogs who are abused or abandoned and to oppose Breed-Specific
Legislation. Located in Gainesboro, Tennessee.

The Pit Bull Rescue
Center A virtual shelter and resource for owners and caretakers
of American Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, Staffordshire
Bull Terriers, and pit bull mixes.

BAD RAP (Bay
Area Doglovers Responsible About Pitbulls) A San Francisco area group that
runs a number of programs to assist pit bulls and their owners, not the least
of which is educating the public about the very unfair reputation this breed
has been given.

Find
the Pit Bull Reports of pit bull
attacks depend on an informed public and animal control officers to correctly
identify the breed of the dog involved. Of course, everyone nowadays knows
what a pit bull looks like. Don’t they?

Pit Bulls
on the Web, mainained by Veronique Chesser, has its own version
of the Find
the Pit Bull challenge; this one may be even more confusing
to those who think they know what a pit bull is.

Pet Pitbull “Balancing
the media hype one dog at a time, meet everyday pit bull heroes!“ Another site
maintained by Veronique Chesser.

PitBullLovers.com An
extensive site chock full of information about the pit bull, maintained by
Jason Mann. Lots of links to other sites and organizations.